Richmond, Virginia

South Main Street & Shocco Bottom

Dianne, left, and her daughter Sherianne, right, share a laugh in the passenger waiting area of the old train station on South Main Street. The century old structure has been recently renovated and reopened. Several passenger trains each day once again stop on the way to and from Miami, Virginia Beach, Newport News, Boston and points between.

Mother and daughter walk beneath the Interstate 95 and railroad overpasses in Shocco Bottom. They spent the afternoon shopping and sightseeing, stopping for lunch at Bottoms Up Pizza. For generations ocean-going vessels blocked by the Falls of the James stopped here to pick up cargo from river boats bringing it down the river.

A new piece of public art hangs from the I-95 overpass near of the Main Street Railroad Station. In spite of a flood wall built to protect this area from high water, it is still known to occasionally flood.

Hookahs on display in the windows of a falafel shop add to the ambience of South Main Street near the site of a market that has continuously operated since the 17th century. Fortunately there is a water hydrant close by in case hot embers from the water pipes flare out of control.

Petunias in a window box on South Main dress up an old wall. Lettering advertising products for sale still adorn the wall even though it has been decades since the store that carried them was open for business.

Dianne awaits Sherianne as she buys a Father's Day present for her husband Casey in an antique shop on Carey Street in the bottom.

The shop carries an eclectic collection of nicknacks, stain glass, paintings, jewelery and furniture from past decades. it marks the end of their shopping trip.